Mindset when heading to print in the darkroom?

[Katie]

So I am having a bit of trouble printing lately. In my other thread, I mentioned that I believe that I am trying to do too much in the darkroom (meaning testing and not printing) so knowing that will help, but I have another problem. I haven't made lots of time to print lately, so when I do, I rush in with my negative binders that contain all the rolls I have shot recently. I pull out my print files and lay them on the light table and look at them with my loupe. If I have time, I will make a contact sheet. Sometimes I don't do that first, but instead make a day of contact sheet printing (it's not as fun as making prints). I pick a negative that I want to print and take a reading with my probe. Then I do one test strip at the contrast settings that I think will work. Make modifications from there - until I get to a final print. Make print - make at least one/two copies of same print. Then, move on to the next negative. Do I want to print that cute picture of my son? Hmmm, only have time for two more negatives, so no. Then I print what I "think" I might want to see framed. Am I going to sell this? (um, probably not). Am I going to give this away? Am I going to put it in a folder? So I come out of the darkroom with about three negatives printed at least three times each. That's about it. I hang about one of these and put the rest in a folder.

So my question ... when you go into the darkroom, do you know EXACTLY what you are going to print? Should I be heading in there knowing which negatives I am printing and for what purpose? For me - for my imaginary art gallery show - for a portfolio that nobody will see? I guess I'm at a crisis where I am wondering "who" I am printing for. I used to just order hundreds of 4x6 prints of my kids from my digi files. I have massive amounts of photo albums. Then again, I used to have massive amounts of clients, too. Without clients (my choice) I am a very unstructured shooter. I like what I'm shooting, but don't know how to structure my printing. See where I'm going?

I don't need to sell prints to be happy, but I'm wondering how to come out of the darkroom feeling like I "did something". Not thinking - "this is all I got from those 3 hours?"

Do I need to make a goal before going in?
Do I first need to decide where the hell I'm going photographically? What kind of photographer am I?
Or should I just aim to print the best shots I've got?

Help. Mid life crisis here.

 

[Mark_S]

I am sure that you will get lots of different answers, but I can give you mine.

I go into the darkroom to escape into a different world. I will usually go in with the thought that I want to print some specific negative, and I may end up with a print that I like, I may not, I may move on to something else, but whatever happens, the issues from work and the rest of my life stay outside and I focus on making images. If I come out of the darkroom with a good print, that is a bonus.

I almost always come out of the darkroom in a calmer, more peaceful state of mind than when I went in. - The question "this all I got from those 3 hours?" never comes up since my goal involves not so much what I get, as what I lose.

 

[Robert Hall]

Welcome to the way it is for most of us, Katie.

You will need to find what work for you, and over time. Take your time, don't try to be so rushed. Be more methodical about how you make an image in camera. The better the negative the easier it is to make a good print. It saves time and money to get it right in camera.

Make sure the prints you make, make it to the finished product, whether that is a framed piece or just well kept in a print box.

Ask yourself are you trying to make art, or simply a good photograph? Or are they one and the same for you?

The other thing is you are still finding your niche for what your work flow is. As you create better negatives and gain more experience in the darkroom, you will find that you can start to eyeball what you need to do to make a good print from a given negative.

Your last few questions are the ones that need to be answered.

Best of luck

 

[Valerie]

Katie,
My methods are nearly identical to yours, minus the rush. I used to rush, but I'm older (maybe a tad wiser?) now and I've realized that my time in the darkroom is sacred time. Not to be rushed, but relished. Some days are devoted only to processing film, others to making contact sheets, and some days are just for prints. While I may have an idea of which negs to print, I tend to let the darkroom gods lead me (unless I am printing for something quite specific like a bday gift).

I do have a couple of different projects that I add prints to as they are produced-- I, too, have an imaginary art gallery show to print for!

 

[jp498]

With time, it will be quicker, but never quick to make prints. I used to use a color analyzer probe to get a rough exposure figured out, but I've since moved and have done fine without it; one less thing. The test strip will show what you need for exposure. In time, you'll be able to guess contrast needs from your test strip too. If a sequence of prints is from the same roll in the same scene, you can usually print them with little or no adjustment between prints.

One of my time consuming things is I like to take the first good test strip and dry it with a hair dryer to check dry-down. Then I know what to expect at wet prints dry. I generally only do it once per paper-type per session.

Sometimes I go in and just develop film, or just make contact prints of printfile pages, depending on time constraints. When I have more time, I actually make prints. I recently made 12 prints when I needed 10 for the LFinfo print exchange; that was a purposeful darkroom session with one image. Other times, I'll print 6-8 photos from a couple pages of negatives and call it good. I've got negatives from years ago I haven't got around to printing yet because image quantity exceeds spare time and money. This happens when I shoot a bunch of rolls at an event and have way more interesting photos than necessary. Other times, such as when doing alt-process, it'll be 30 minutes in the darkroom to coat paper, let it dry, 15 minutes another time to 2nd coat it, an hour another time to expose the images and develop the paper, fit in where it can during a day or evening.

About 2/3 of what I print (beside contact pages) is "unstructured"; just following through with a photo opportunity to see how it turned out; sometimes that's a pleasant bonus, sometimes it's a learning experience. The other 1/3 is planned printing work; images for gifts, something for the walls of my house or a show, a photo someone is waiting for, etc...

I like too like every print to be presentable quality, even if it doesn't get framed and stays in a box or envelope.

 

[SuzanneR]

My time in the darkroom is precious as well, and I tend to go into each session with specific goals like Valerie. I'll process film, or make proof prints (I skip contact sheets for a variety of reasons) or make 11x14's. I have a gallery that represents my work, so it's always good for me to bring new work in for his flat files on occasion. If I'm printing, I print tops two negatives. (I don't generally have more time as the kids get home around three and all the mom fun starts, you know the drill I'm sure.) I try to get in there at least twice a week. (Tomorrow is film processing!! Can't wait!)

Working in the darkroom is a very zen thing... as Valerie said, don't rush it, relish it, embrace it, enjoy it. After a few months, you might have a portfolio you feel confident to share with the world, and you never know... the work may find an audience.

 

[HowardDvorin]

Hi Katie,

If you are an amatuer,then enjoy the process of being in the darkrom. Whatever successful prints emerge are a bonus.

HowardDvorin

 

[cliveh]

I would suggest you have to have a target about what you intend to print in the time you have. If I go into the darkroom to print, I decide before hand I will print X,Y,Z, Knowing that is going to take approx X amount of time, if time permits I may print something else, but I aim for the target.

 

[pstake]

I go in there with the same attitude as Mark S. ... anymore, if your goal is production, produce, produce, produce, manufacture, then you will inevitably go the way of Anakin, to the dark side, to digital.

A good way to keep the Zen thing going, I find, is never to tell anybody what you plan to print, nor when.

I just wait until the sun goes down, finish dinner, dishes, emails I need to send, etcetera ... and then tell my girlfriend that I"m going to the basement for a while and i'll be back when myself or my chemistry, is exhausted, which ever comes first.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Katie,

I only have one rule about darkroom work: To have fun!

Other than that, I never go in with the intention of making more than one or two good prints. If I'm really feeling it and get more good prints out of a session, then that's a great bonus, but I try to avoid putting more pressure on myself than one or two good prints, because that does take the fun out of it and it becomes a chore.

That's how it is for me. Try to have fun, and avoid putting pressure on myself. I feel like we have so little time as adults, with so many demands put on us by our surrounding. The precious time away from those demands I gather should be fun.

Hope that helps.

 

[brian steinberger]

Katie, when I go in the darkroom it's for one of three reasons, to develop film, make contact sheets, or work on a particular negative. I always plan what I'm going to print ahead of time. I'll even plan it out in my head for days before the actual printing session. I'm thinking of things like 'do I want to use split grade printing on this negative?' 'I will probably need to burn the sky for whatever amount,' 'may need to dodge this area..' etc. All this while staring at the contact sheet of the negative. Along with making contact prints I also scan my film and play around with it in PS. This is a huge help. I can adjust contrast, crop, tone it different ways, and live with the image before I even need to play with it in the darkroom. Then after a while some photographs will stick with me and others will seem not so important. My point is.. I need a photograph to prove its importance to me over time before it is worthwhile for me to spend a days printing session working on it. I never print anything I shot in the last few months, unless it's of people. And I do only work with one negative at a time. I'll leave it in the enlarger and that way if the next day I'm not happy with the prints or I ruin them during toning, the neg is still there, clean, ready to be printed.

 

[ROL]

So my question ... when you go into the darkroom, do you know EXACTLY what you are going to print?

Yes, I make proofs of all LF film and contact sheets of MF rolls from which I select frames to be proofed. I keep and store all proofs in numbered file boxes for future reference (see story for Mono Moon Proof). The proofs all have basic printing notes (paper grade, exposure, dodges and burns – see Making a Proof). There are rarely any surprises, in that regard. Either it's all in the proof, or it won't get printed: technically, tonally, compositionally or emotionally.

I don't need to sell prints to be happy, but I'm wondering how to come out of the darkroom feeling like I "did something". Not thinking - "this is all I got from those 3 hours?"

Neither do I, thank the Lord. I am only doing fine art prints for me. Previsualization (admittedly a difficult concept for some to both appreciate and execute) and its associated technical advantages from exposing and developing film to making a fine print is all that is required.

Do I need to make a goal before going in?

Ansel Adams pretty much summed it up this way, nothing worse than a sharp photo of a fuzzy concept.


Oh, and be nice.

 

[Katie]

Okay ROL - I just spit my drink out laughing at the "be nice" comment. I think that might have to be the new theme of my imaginary gallery show.

To qualify that statement, I think you should know more about me and how I ended up in the darkroom to begin with....

Like Suzanne (and I think valerie) I am primarily a mother and a photographer/artist second. I recently (2 years ago) left the city and moved to a small town for many reasons. I hated the ratrace, wanted my children to grow up like I did, and frankly the lure of a community that appreciates how things "used to be" really appeals to me. I lost all my clients and a very nice portrait business and didn't care. I really didn't want to be one of those "pixie sparkle butterfly mother with a digital camera so I am now a professional portrait photographer kind of people". Digital was really good to me, but extremely unfulfilling. I started with film and knew its qualities - and so I returned. I do not want to be a puppy mill photographer. I mostly do volunteer work here with my digi - and really have no desire for "portrait clients" at this time. I'm not really a good conformist people person... And felt that artist fit me better.

SO... what do I want out of my darkroom? Something beautiful I guess. I'm pretty ass-backwards when it comes to modern conveniences and I am one of those that wishes people still used typewriters and manners. I think life itself should and can mimic the art I want to create. In my world, people have southern manners regardless of the situation. If someone really makes you angry, you tell them "well, bless your heart" - not whatever anachronism kids use these days. I have turned in to one of those people that says "those young people" and "when I was young"; and I am only 38.

See how I ended up in a darkroom yet?

So the analog world and I are like "peas and carrots" - if only I could tell myself what I am supposed to be doing. Beautiful things. That's all I want!

 

[winger]

First off, I know exactly how you feel. I don't get as much time for photography as I'd like. I do best and feel the most successful if I go in with a plan of some sort. If not, I just feel frantic the whole time and never accomplish anything.
I make contact sheets of every roll and every sheet I develop. I use a standard time and settings so I know from that contact sheet how each frame might print. That gives me a little bit of a head start if I print that frame. I usually don't have more than 2 or 3 rolls, tops, so doing those contact sheets doesn't take much time. I always do them first, too. That way, if I'm going to print fiber the rest of the session, I can get them washed and out of the way (I don't leave RC and fiber in the water hold together since RC can scratch the fiber). And I have them as a reference if I'm going to print something from that roll. It works better for me than using a loupe and looking at negs.
Sometimes, I go in with a plan of trying something new. That usually doesn't go as I expected and I don't always feel like it was a great day. But it's still a better day than one that I didn't do any photography.
The most new frames I'd ever try to get a really good fiber print from in one session is two. And those would have to have been tried before, just not perfected. If I'm going to do work prints (first tries at a frame to see if I like it bigger and at what contrast), I can pump out two frames an hour at least. I use the same paper I've been using for the last ten years or so and I've been printing and paying attention to how I do it for that long at least, too. I'm not a great printer, but I can usually get a print I like.

 

[tkamiya]

When I go into my darkroom, I have a goal and my goals are very modest.

Just few days ago, I went in and made 6 contact sheets. That was it.

I am planning to go into my DR either today or tomorrow. My goal is to make a semi-finished good print of just ONE frame. (this is on RC paper)
Then next day, I will go in and finish printing that frame. I do it this way because it takes me a while to properly judge the test print. I leaned, if I try to finish it on the same day, I tend to go through huge number of sheets and find out I either don't like any of them or I like the very first or second one. I also made my "master piece" and very next day, decided it was not to my liking. Having the piece completely dry, my mind refreshed, and seeing it in different light seems to make a huge difference in my ability to judge my own work.

If I have to make complicated adjustments, I sometimes take multiple days for a frame. If I'm printing FB paper, it almost always takes at least 3 days to finish one frame. First day is always for just to make some rough prints. Second day to evaluate and fine tune. Third day to make the final print. The tonality and the density always seem to shift from hair-dryer dry to completely dry and pressed the next day.

I don't know about you but I don't do it commercially. It's not fun when I rush myself.

 

[NB23]

One, two, even 5 lab sessions aren't enough to do what you have to do.

There's only one way about it, only one: consistency. Schedule your time in the darkroom and the first thing you know, you've printed all your negatives and it's become addictive. As an example, do it every monday, tuesday and wednesday from 6PM to 9PM and follow religiously.

What you do during those hours in the darkroom can be totally unrelated to printing. Could be listening to a Football game while cutting negatives or choosing what negatives to print. But spend that time in there. Soon enough, you'll have printed everything and you'll be asking for more and it will all seem like a Breeze.

 

[jglass]

Katie, I totally hear you. I have exactly the same issues and (self-imposed) pressures. I highly recommend a few things, some of which repeat what has been said:

1) Like others have said, always look at your negs or contact sheets before you go in and decide what you're going to do with your precious dark time before it begins. You can do the review late at night, even when you're tired, when your kids are around, etc, and make your decisions then. This makes your darkroom session less hurried, more efficient, calmer, more fun. AND, most important, you can always change your mind once you get in there since you're in charge! But having a plan before you start -- a limited plan -- is very calming.

2) Have different kinds of sessions at different times, all contributing to the culling that is THE most important part of being a photographer, according to me. Sometimes I just process film and then make contacts if I can. (I make contacts of everything bcs it's much easier to do the review at off times). Sometimes I just make contacts if I have a bunch. Then I have another type of session where I just print proofs of some selected negatives, always on RC paper at 6"x9" on 8x10, as fast as possible, mostly just to see what this neg is going to look like at a decent size. These sessions are great because I can come out of a 3 to 4 hour session with maybe 20 prints to look at later and evaluate. Most of them get tossed or set aside to be checked again. A very few make it to the next stage, a fine printing session where I work on one or maybe 2 or, at a stretch, 3 negatives that have passed all the other tests and have real concrete immediate purpose: framing in the house, for a gift, for a portfolio project that's part of a series. For me FB paper and its time consumption is only worth it for these very special negatives. (I'm not a tonality or sharpness guy; I'm a content guy!) Maybe 1 or 2 images per 3 or 4 rolls for me. Sometimes I also do a session of 5x7 FB prints of family stuff for scrapbooks etc. I find this is a good way to do nice b&w family stuff quickly.

3) Shoot less and work in series! When not doing family snapshooting, or shooting something that is just screaming at me, I pretty much limit my shooting to an ongoing series that may someday become a portfolia, gallery show, book, etc. This helps me focus on what is important to me about what I shoot and keeps me from having so many single images that just don't belong in my own collection of work. As I say, I'm a content/art guy, not a process guy. Now the problem with this is that I have too many series that I'm working on, but that's just my lack of focus and multi-faceted interest in this old sad beautiful world!

4) Family stuff and snapshooting, i often simply shoot in color, (cheaper Fuji Superia or Portra for really nice light or important moments that I see coming). This stuff I can drop at the lab and have back negs and scans in a few hours. Much of that stuff is just shared on the web, flickr so I dont' go much further with it. And it still has that beautiful look of film! And if somehow I get a beauty out of this, I can have a big drum scan made and printed by the lab and boy you wouldn't believe the tones and colors out of those scans printed wet by a lab (chromira)!

5) Sometimes I can't get to the darkroom for a while, so I scan negs (gasp!) and proof them for later printing that way. This helps me feel connected to my work and also keeps me aware of how beautiful and different wet printing is.

I wish I could get in the darkroom 3 times a week like someone mentioned. But I can't, so all these things help me with the way I work.

6) Love it and have fun. We're all very fortunate to have the time and money to spend even a few hours a week in the darkroom. Most of our fellow humans couldn't even imagine it!

Jeff

PS: 7) Don't worry about feeling that "this is all I got for 3 hours feeling." It really never goes away! That's where the love comes in.

 

[removed account4]

hi katie

when i have client work to do, i get it done without worrying about anything but
getting it done ...

it isn't like that usually

i don't have any expectations but to have a good time.

sometimes you need to just have fun, instead of feeling the stress of ... a deadline.

if you NEED a deadline, by all means make them for yourself .. but don't forget to have fun once in a while
because without the fun, it just becomes a chore ... something you want to avoid, instead of look forward to.

good luck
john

 

[MattKing]

Katie:

It definitely helps to have routines for particular tasks - developing film, making contacts, doing initial proof prints.

That way you can go into the darkroom with specific goals, and most likely achieve those goals in the time available.

But you also need to go into the darkroom some times with a plan to "play". By that I mean go in without any particular result in mind - just an intention to explore, learn and hopefully create. In my mind, this is the best mindset to have when you are thinking that a final print is a possible result.

If you want to speed up the efficiency of that part of the process, I'd suggest some production printing, for the limited purpose of adding to the speed and efficiency of your technique.

 

[Bill Burk]

Last time I went in the darkroom to print, I turned on the water, got the negative boxes out and started riffling through. I had recently finished a few prints for two friends' of their weddings and that project left me somewhat exhausted and ran me out of some supplies. So this time I was looking for something for me. The only constraints, it had to be a good 4x5 neg that fits Grade 2 (because I was looking for something to go right).

Lesson learned: Pick the negatives you want to print - then turn on the water.

 

[skahde]

Work top down with respect to quality.

I try to pick the negative I like the most before I got into the lab. The first work print will show if was right. By the time I have finished the print in the way I imagined it, it sets the standard for the ones following and usually keeps me from printing more than one or two more (in several copies). This way I print what mostly are the keepers.

With landscapes and architecture and other abstract stuff I even skip the contact sheets which I only find neccessary for people to judge expression and posture. But this is just me...

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I agree

I only have one rule about darkroom work: To have fun!

I agree. I walk into my darkroom without any other expectation than to have fun. I have to admit that I got burned out doing production printing for clients. Printing for myself, I have fun and once in a while I have a fortunate mistake and I make a print beautiful that I didn't expect to make. The hours I spend in my darkroom seem only like minutes. Time flies. The final product is something real that I can hold in my hands.

 

[fotch]

It is similar to taking a drive in the car. Sometimes the reason is I have to go someplace, work, store, doctor appointment. Other times, I am just interested in sight seeing, looking around, going some place to see what it looks like there, never having been there before. So, sometimes I need to, other times just want to, go into the darkroom.

 

[MaximusM3]

Yep..FUN! For some, the darkroom is a relief valve, but for me, if I am tense, in a bad mood, or down for any reason, I just can't accomplish much. Pressure in life is everywhere and if I have to add the pressure of printing and delivering something worthwhile, my head would just blow up. Deep breath and a big smile = good. In short, get a big fat joint, a couple of bags of pretzels and head into the dark NO, I'm just kidding, really. I don't do that... but it doesn't sound so bad.

 

[PKM-25]

I just started printing again after a 10 year hiatus. Before that, it was 5x7's and 8x10's as re-prints for people who wanted a copy of the photo that we shot for the paper, before that, in 91' for a class. If a camera, lens or enlarger is a tool, then a darkroom is a big tool box. I love to make things, I heart toolboxes...

I look at the darkroom process like I do the manner in which I built some of the components of mine, by hand. Mine is cramped, so it is not a space for endless experiments in toning and lots of elaborate baths. It's a place to walk in with a neg you have been aching to print for years. And while I relish in the personal nature of my input into the medium, I also look at it as business which I also enjoy. I feel good when I see one print that is worth selling, I feel great when I see 10 of the same one from one session.

So I go in with a plan. And that plan can be to not waste more than 3 out of a run of 20 FB prints in trying to fill an edition, to cranking out a few 8 x 10 RC edit proofs of negs I want to get a better feel for. But either way, I just don't mess around much in there and really like the idea of it not taking too much time away from shooting, being outside. So while I love how different it is, and I am not one who needs to use it to escape, it is a very important part of my final vision that I try to consume in modest amounts.